Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to add a couple of questions. The Department has expressed a concern regarding proportionality in respect of small and medium-sized businesses. It is a big issue that while the same rules really should not apply in this regard, they do. Aside from small businesses, other companies, which in reality operate as charities, sporting organisations and so on, are also hit by audits each year. In the context of what an audit actually does, it is hardly fair that such organisations operating on a not-for-profit basis are obliged to pay €2,000 or €3,000 on an annual basis for an audit that at their level does not really achieve much. Can this issue be addressed in this regulation or is it more of an issue that must be considered on a national basis?

Deputy Áine Collins touched on my other point, which is that people's perceptions of what auditors should do and what the actual job of an auditor entails are very different. These proposals do not deal with that perception either and it is imperative to broaden out what we expect or what we would wish an auditor to do. Can this be dealt with at a European Union level or, again, is this a matter that must be pursued nationally? In an audit, one can assess a company's accounts for two years and even though one might know the company will be in trouble in the following year, one really cannot comment on that as one is simply performing an audit on the accounts. There is no assurance and this directive does not ask for that. My question is whether it should have sought it.